Catastrophic failure on tuned Ecoboost

[Samson16]

I did a little digging and found this from a guy who seems pretty knowledgeable on the subject:

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[Snakebitten]

I don't know where you found that, but I wouldn't believe a thing that yahoo says.

But It is some of the performance motor builders that use the term Gen3 when differentiating the 2020 from the 2021+.

Supposedly enough different part numbers for the motor's internals that you can recognize it as sufficiently not the same. And the addition (return) of an egr system isn't exactly insignificant.

 

[Samson16]

I don't know where you found that, but I wouldn't believe a thing that yahoo says.

But It is some of the performance motor builders that use the term Gen3 when differentiating the 2020 from the 2021+.

Supposedly enough different part numbers for the motor's internals that you can recognize it as sufficiently not the same. And the addition (return) of an egr system isn't exactly insignificant.

Nothing new for those so-so pistons though huh? I watched some guy on TFL mumble about oil galleries and stainless exhaust something or other...

 

[JExpedition07]

Ford has really stopped getting the consumer involved in the powertrain development updates and has reverted to old school “here is the output # final product” ways. I get it, it likely saved them tons on not producing videos or adverts/brochures for the powertrains anymore. Heck they don’t even offer a general F-150 brochure these days.

 

[spiritrider1]

I will just add that my 2018 2.7 Eco STX was a stout little performer but I had a 2023 loaner while my 2021 PowerBoost was in for some recall/warranty work and the 23 felt snappier than I recall. HP & TQ appear to be identical to the 18 specs but I know small improvements in power delivery can make a big difference in the driving experience.
It also highlighted the 1st gear start 'clunk' of my PowerBoost which was one of the reasons it was in the shop - to have it reprogrammed. The 2023 was smooth as silk. And, for whatever it's worth, the reprogramming didn't seem to make much, if any difference. The 'clunk' is still there.

 

[Snakebitten]

Ford could so easily improve the Powerboost ownership experience with a button on the steering wheel.

Much like engaging things like Adaptive Cruise Control or Lane Centering, there should be a button for disabling EV from a dead stop.

This would give the driver the ability to decide whether the truck should start the ICE based on torque request VS starting ICE regardless of torque request.

Would literally allow a Powerboost to behave in traffic exactly like a non Powerboost. Except in real stop & go where you are ONLY letting off the brake to inch forward, you would still experience the wonderful job Ford did with the EV creeping mode.

Best of both worlds, and getting rid of the silly clunky method they have now for determining if ICE is necessary.

 

[JJSnell]

Ran across this video on YouTube. It’s an older model truck, but I took it as a tale of caution. I suspect there are plenty here that run tunes with no issue, but push it too far and you could end up with these results. The video author didn’t get into detail of the tune, but I’m guessing he didn’t know them. The carnage is pretty gnarly.

@11:35 I was expecting Luke Skywalkers, one eyed "Garbage Beast" (Dianoga) to slither around and pop his head up at the camera....

 

[KingDavid]

The 3.5 EcoBoost and 3.3 Duratec share the same mediocre at best connecting rods. I cringe when I see people doing these crazy tunes for 500+ horsepower etc….the main bearings and connecting rods will let loose at those power levels at some point or another. Tuning in general is safe, but these extreme tunes are not very safe. That engine is all ready running at the cusp of its internal power holding capabilities for a good service life from the factory. You can crank up the juice, but you pay with a shortened lifespan. The 3.5 EB is a great motor from the factory even at stock power levels. I guess it’s still not enough for some lol.

Whoooaaa I didn't know that about the 3.5. I thought they can handle the high power tunes??? That doesn't bode well.

 

[Snakebitten]

I don't believe any motor that comes in our trucks with better than 100HP per liter from the manufacturer is likely to be fragile.
And there's now more than a decade of history tuning them considerably beyond the factory output.

Sure, It has its limits. And at some power level you should address that open deck and piston/rod combo. But there's wrecker yards full of 180,000 to 250,000 mile well worked and driven Ecoboost F150s.

 

[Samson16]

firstly the 3.5 Ecoboost has been earning serious cred since the SHO days and it’s common thought amongst regular people like me that if you use a quality oil and do your maintenance you can’t buy a better half ton truck engine. It’s stronger than the V8s and gets better mileage. The engine won LeMans for heavens’ sake. Secondly, as manufacturers have gone with higher compression ratios in their turbo engines to improve drive ability, the margin for error in aftermarket tuning has narrowed significantly. I’ve heard the term ecoBoom! a time or two lol. Used to be ratios for turbo motors were 8.7: 1 etc., far lower than today. Could be just a middle aged man rambling ??‍

 

[Tuffram1996]

I would love to tune my truck to clean up the sloppy shifting 10 speed. I have my Reservations though after seeing this. I'd like to know more on what tune that truck was running

Nothing to have reservations about. When tune is done correctly by a competent tuner these engines can make well over 600 WHP with supporting mods and be very reliable. This is a case of tuning error. Only a couple EcoBoost tuners in business I trust. I'm making about 525 WHP and about 600 torque and drive mine daily. I did help develop the tuning I'm running.

 

[Tuffram1996]

I've had tunes by Gearhead, 5*, and MPT.
All 3 has attributes that I liked about their approach.

But hands down, Gearhead tuning (Matt is the gurus name) had the most polish. He plays a little safer than some folks like, but I'm not looking for the hardest possible hit. I like it to me smooth, but strong.

And Matt has been respected for his transmission tuning for many years, going back to the glory days of Ford Diesel, before the Ecoboost even popped on the scene. As I stated earlier, he worked magic on my previous 10R80.
I've had tunes by Gearhead, 5*, and MPT.
All 3 has attributes that I liked about their approach.

But hands down, Gearhead tuning (Matt is the gurus name) had the most polish. He plays a little safer than some folks like, but I'm not looking for the hardest possible hit. I like it to me smooth, but strong.

And Matt has been respected for his transmission tuning for many years, going back to the glory days of Ford Diesel, before the Ecoboost even popped on the scene. As I stated earlier, he worked magic on my previous 10R80.

My 2021 Tremor was used to develop the current for sale tunes from GearHead. Matt and I worked extensively on the Gen 3 tuning. We went through almost 130 revisions on several different things. If you buy a 21+ ecoboost. The trans shifting was one area we played particular attention to imo Fords trans shifting is complete garbage. Now this truck shifts like it should. Part throttle daily driving all seems nice and calm shifts are on time and smoth go WOT and this thing hits every shift very crisp and firm.

 

[JJSnell]

Nothing to have reservations about. When tune is done correctly by a competent tuner these engines can make well over 600 WHP with supporting mods and be very reliable. This is a case of tuning error. Only a couple EcoBoost tuners in business I trust. I'm making about 525 WHP and about 600 torque and drive mine daily. I did help develop the tuning I'm running.

Right, but we dont know what this guy was tuned to? We were only given the term "Agressive". And when he was "passing another car" was he passing a Prius or trying to overtake a Dark Horse? Thats the problem with most of these "tuners", is they think just clicking buttons is just going to turn their truck into a Ferrari with no issues. Not many have ever flowed a set of heads, custom ground a cam based on those flow numbers or even swapped rearend gears, let alone busted a knuckle on anything.
Im guessing this guy tied his man-bun up, plugged in his tuner and started pecking away. He should have stuck with a Subaru...

 

[Snakebitten]

My 2021 Tremor was used to develop the current for sale tunes from GearHead. Matt and I worked extensively on the Gen 3 tuning. We went through almost 130 revisions on several different things. If you buy a 21+ ecoboost. The trans shifting was one area we played particular attention to imo Fords trans shifting is complete garbage. Now this truck shifts like it should. Part throttle daily driving all seems nice and calm shifts are on time and smoth go WOT and this thing hits every shift very crisp and firm.

Good people over there.
I don't know if Larz is still with Matt, but that gentleman is the salt of the earth.

 

[Eighthtry]

This comes from other threads. Put a K&N filter on your truck and pick up 50HP. It's a miracle.

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